K.Y.

What is being an undocumented immigrant like for you?  

“I am really afraid the friends I make are anti-immigrants. Afraid that I take all this time to build a friendship and later found out they are anti-immigrant. I am afraid to tell my friends about my status or disclose any of my status information. I only told one of my best friends whom I was really close with in high school. And being able to hear they say that they do not personally understand my struggles but find it fine and continue to be my friend was the most reassuring thing I could ever go through. Recently my coworker was talking about their status situation. They were talking about naturalization, when they got their green card, etc. One of my coworkers was about to ask me about my status. I immediately had to bring up an excuse to get out of that conversation. Even everyday conversations like this makes me feel so paranoid. I don’t trust my coworkers or even want to know their opinions. I had to physically leave for it to stop. I just don’t want this part of my life smear through my every day interaction, it is so tiring. ”

Personal Interaction with Police

“I did not have good interactions with police – when I was in college there was one time where my partner and I was hanging out at my friend’s place. One of the acquaintances I know was drinking too much. He was chugging through the alcohol, drinking way too much. He tried to leave the house and was making a lot of noises around the neighborhood. We were trying to restrain him and pull him back but he wasn’t having it at all. And because he was so loud, someone called the police.

My partner and I are undocumented, so when we saw a bunch of police showed up to my friend’s house, we were terrified. We explained to the police what happened but instead of listening to us, they tried to interrogate us and get us to say things that’s not even true. They said to us: it’s okay if you’re smoking weed or was doing drugs, you can tell us, it’ll be fine. We didn’t say shit because we know that’s not true, they wouldn’t protect us. I’m DACA, so I have some form of protection but if we get arrested, my boyfriend who is completely undocumented, he has no protection at all... It was a terrifying experience for us. I have never felt so unprotected in my life.”

What does justice and safety look like to you?

“I’m not quite sure what justice looks like. We always have this policing, law enforcement system for too long. When we think of justice, it is hard to disassociate it with the police. I think the first thing is less policing, de- escalation, less aggressive policing. Police aren’t always necessary most of the time. De-escalation is better in a lot of situations. A lot of people would be like, what about violent crimes? But the police actually don’t do anything! I don’t know what could replace it. Justice has been set up disadvantageously to the marginalized group. I don’t think I have a concrete answer. but I think less policing and de-escalation is probably a good way to start. I just want more safety. For all groups of people, not just certain groups. My experience who is East Asian, DACAmented, immigrant is different than those who are brown, black or in other communities, what could work for me might not work with others. ”